Make or Break Your Career with Social Media

all is fair in love and social media domination

Hey there, Parker here.  Sharing my thoughts on current events, marketing and social media.  Also, my DVR didn't record yesterday's daytime Law & Order episodes so I have an idle hour or two.

Anyway, the most popular and respected search engine company just upped their game and are playing for keeps.  Google easily chopped Alta Vista in half, turned dogpile into a dog pile, and had Ask Jeeve's asking "what happened?".  They KO'd their opponents but they've tipped their hand with this latest development - all Google employees are tied to the success of social media.  Wow.  They sound worried.

bing. meet. facebook

Now that Bing and Facebook are best buddies, I guess social media is the most logical step in securing global online domination.  Google is asking employees to enlist the help of family and friends to push social product releases.  If they aren't soliciting feedback I would frown upon the practice of manipulating or skewing data by asking friends and family to vote favorably just for voting's sake.  But knowing Google as well as I do (see my previous love for Google post), I'm sure they are truly testing products for a better user experience, and not just popularity.

Face it folks, we all know building a following using social media takes time and consumer trust and I'm a blatant fan of all things Google. However, my personal experiences with their social media channels have been hit or miss.  For instance;

this is a real thing

I tried Orkut because it was a default add-on while creating my Google Identity.  No one in my social circle was on it (or even heard of it) so that was the last time I bothered to log-in.

Picasa was cool when signed up and I still like it.  Sometimes I want to share photos independent of Facebook and Picasa serves my efforts well.

Wave was all mystery and I was green-eyed that I never got the invite while EVERYONE ELSE I KNEW was asked to test it.  Then I found out what it was and sort of wished I'd stayed in the dark.

i use it

Gmail chat is awesome!  I love the ease of using chat right within my Gmail screen.  And the video chat was as simple to use as a click of a button.  Literally.

Blogger - um, duh! You're reading my blog now.

YouTube's embed feature was my first experience with embedding video or any widget on a web page and loved the simplicity of it.

+1 brings out my inner paranoid conspiracy theorist.  Sometimes I don't want to know what my 'friends' have read nor do I want them to know what I've read. If I post online, it's fair game, but if I'm browsing the web, much like a library, I have an expectation of privacy.

i see google making more money

Buzz made me mad.  Unlike Facebook, I couldn't hide much of my information from search engines (or anyone).  So I worry about buzzing on non-web or professional matters.

No one asked for my two-cents but that has never stopped me from spreading the wealth.  I'm all for their decision.  Top down and bottom up - all administrative, professional and middle management employees have been drafted and will be held responsible for Google's social media efforts.

I can dig it.  I'm watching them closely and I'm taking notes.

I won't be surprised if in 2-3 years we find ourselves ranking Orkut (or whatever new platform they develop or buy) as our preferred vehicle of online conversation and community.

Best,
Parker

Hey Yahoo! 99.9% Uptime Isn’t Good Enough

For nearly an hour this morning I tried accessing my Yahoo! Mail account without success. I thought my iPhone, and then my laptop was the cause. But I was able to get into GMail easily. Hotmail was ready. AOL was as simple as tapping my mobile screen. Sadly, Yahoo failed.


A quick social search on Google and Twitter revealed it wasn't just me having issues accessing the website. The comments were pouring in by the tons about the problem. Perhaps this tweet said it best:





That's right folks, Yahoo, Inc. is laying off nearly 700 employees today from the US locations (Washington Post 12/14/2010). Two weeks before Christmas. Employees will be notified upon arriving at work and will be asked to leave the premises immediately (D: All Things Digital 12/13/2010).

happy holidays from Yahoo!

Please note: this comes just weeks after reports of Google planning 10% pay raises across the board in the new year (ComputerWorld 11/11/2010).


Look, I know business is just that - business. Nothing personal. And without knowing the details of the severance package, I really can't hold a grudge against the iconic company. But I can be ticked off that my Yahoo Mail was down!


What happened? Did you fire the guy who's in charge of the server when he walked into the door? Bad things can happen that way. Next time, wait until the end of the day and buy him flowers, give him chocolates, present a bottle of wine and a box for his belongings. Then send him a boat load of money and tell him bon voyage only after you've hired and trained his less experienced but cheaper replacement.


When the site finally loaded in my browser window, here's what they had on the homepage:

Were you trying to tell us something? C'mon people! Please say the editor was asleep at his desk when this was approved for today's news banner. 

its good to see you runningman

Layoffs happen. I volunteered for one last year at AOL. I loved working at AOL for six years and I still have immense respect for my former colleagues. Also, CEO Tim Armstrong DOES look like superman! AOL was upfront and communicated to their employees that layoffs were coming. They offered a pretty good package as incentive to voluntarily leave.  Or employees could take their chances on having a job in the New Year.  Good move, AOL.


Yahoo, what are the lessons learned today?  This, if you are a major public corporation and big time player in the online search, portal and global internet service business, 99.9% uptime isn’t good enough. Yahoo is now my text book example that the .1% chance of your services going offline could occur at the worse possible moment.


Or perhaps they themselves had too much egg nog at last night’s party?

was this posted before or after your announcement?

Best,
Parker